A Passing Glimpse
by AdventureAddict
Summary: Ed and Al have always been good friends. They think they know each other pretty well, but then one day they accidentally switch places. During their switch, they learn things about each other they never knew and come to understand one another even better.
1. Prologue

A Passing Glimpse

I often see flowers from a passing car

That are gone before I can tell what they are.

I want to get out of the train and go back

To see what they were beside the track.

I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't:

Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt-

Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth-

Not lupine living on sand and drouth.

Was something brushed across my mind

That no one on earth will ever find?

Heaven gives its glimpses only to those

Not in position to look too close.

-Robert Frost


	2. The Switch

Chapter One – The Switch

Ed slowly held a hand to his forehead as the room spun into focus. He had never had a headache like this before. It was as if he had a migraine, but also as if the pain was being stored somewhere in the back of his head at the same time. He could feel the pain, and yet he couldn't simultaneously. He held a hand to his forehead as he sat up with a grunt.

Wait. Something wasn't right. He was used to not feeling anything with his right hand, but he could usually feel the metal if it touched anywhere else on his body. He had just touched his right hand to his forehead and felt absolutely nothing. Ed quickly held both his hands in front of him and watched in horror as two very large metal hands stretched out in front of him.

Ed knew those hands. He had been traveling side-by-side with those hands for years. They weren't his hands. He slowly reached up and then did something that he knew he had never been able to do before.

He pulled off his head.

Or rather, Al's head, he realized as he looked down at it. Somehow, he had gotten trapped in the same metal body that Al had been trapped in. And if he was in Al's 'body,' then, logically, Al would be…

Ed slammed his head back on and hurriedly stood up to try and find Al, but then stopped when he realized just how high up he was. He was _tall_! Really tall! He felt like he would be able to look down on anyone that walked by.

"Cool!" Ed said with a slight laugh, but then stopped. "Great," he muttered sarcastically. "I got Al's voice too." He sighed and then walked over to the bed he had been sleeping in last night, hoping that 'he' was still sleeping there.

A small body was curled up tightly under the sheets, but Ed could instantly recognize the blond hair sticking out. This was just weird. He quickly pulled back the sheets with his huge fingers to reveal himself, tossing and turning in his sleep. Ed could see a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his eyebrows were turned down unhappily.

"Hey, um… Al?" he said slowly, reaching out to poke his own shoulder. This was way too weird. "Come on, it's time to wake up, buddy."

"Mom…" 'Ed' muttered as he turned over in his sleep. "I'm sorry Mom… I didn't know…"

"Al," Ed said softly, reaching out his hand and pressing it gently against 'his' forehead. He hoped the cool metal would soothe Al a little. "I know, it's a really bad dream. Just wake up and it'll all be over." He wondered if Al was having his own bad dream about their mom, or if he was actually suffering from the same bad dreams Ed had every night. Either way, Ed knew from the body posture that it certainly wasn't a _good_ dream. Ed tried poking the fleshy shoulder again, but the boy still didn't wake up.

Ed sighed. He knew that if someone called _him_ short while he was sleeping he would instantly wake up, but he wasn't sure if it would work on Al. Could it possibly be just a physical reaction? Ed sighed. He didn't want to do that, since he'd really be calling himself short. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He badly hoped this would work, or otherwise he'd feel even worse.

"Come on, pipsqueak, wake up," Ed growled, going down to eye level with the bed. A pair of golden eyes immediately snapped open, but then 'Ed' quickly jumped up and backed against the wall.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" he demanded quickly. "And where's Brother?!" Ed sighed in relief. This was definitely Al. "And what happened to my voice?!" Al continued, clutching at his throat in shock, which soon turned to horror when he realized that an automail and flesh hand were actually clutching at his throat. And hurting it, on top of that.

"It's okay, Al," Ed said slowly as he stood up. Poor Al was so scared that Ed could actually see him shaking as he looked down at his hands. "It's me, Ed. I'm right here."

"Brother?" Al squeaked as he looked up at Ed. "What happened?"

"I don't know how, but we switched bodies," Ed sighed. Al slowly reached back with his left hand and grabbed a chunk of unbraided golden hair, just to be sure. "But we're going to fix it, okay?" Ed said determinedly. Al nodded, and Ed noticed that his bottom lip was trembling a little.

"Al?" Ed said slowly. "Do you… Do you need a hug?"

Al looked up at his older brother and nodded fiercely. Ed held out his arms, and Al quickly ran into them just as the dam broke loose.

"I don't want to be you, Brother," Al sobbed into Ed's chest plate. Ed slowly wrapped his arms around Al, unsure of how hard he should hold Al. He felt like Al needed a nice hard squeeze, but he also didn't want to hurt him.

"N-N-No offe-e-e-ense," Al continued, the tears streaming down his cheeks. "I just wanna be myself again! And I don't even know why I'm crying like th-i-is!"

"It's okay," Ed whispered softly "You haven't cried in years, Al. Just let it out." Ed could see the blond braid whip up and down as Al nodded with his head still pressed against Ed's cold metal body.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Ed said as Al finally pulled away from him. Al nodded with a small smile as he wiped the last remnants of the tears away with the back of his hand.

"But how do you know that?" Al said, his breath coming in short hiccups. He had really been crying hard. "I haven't seen you cry in ages."

"Well," Ed nervously scratched the back of his head. "Um… there were times… I had to get it out at some point… you weren't really around… And I made sure that no one could see me…"

"Brother?!" Al gasped, looking at Ed with wide eyes. "Are you saying that you cried when I wasn't around?"

"You're a dead man if you tell anyone else," Ed growled. He realized that he wasn't able to send the same sort of death glare he could in his old body, but he did manage to narrow his eyes a bit. "Besides, it wasn't like I put 'Weeping Tuesday' on my schedule or anything. There were just sometimes – like with Nina – that I needed to let it out, so I went into the bathroom and locked the door." Al still had eyes the size of dinner plates, so Ed repeated his warning a second time. "If you tell anybody, you'll be in more pain than when I got my automail."

"You mean _my_ automail," Al said softly, looking down at his right arm. He flapped it up and down a few times as if it were a wing instead of an arm. "I never knew it was this heavy."

"And I never knew that you could actually have a headache," Ed moaned, holding a hand back up against his head. "That has got to be one of the weirdest sensations I've ever felt."

"Yeah," Al said with a smile hinting at his lips. "That was what happened whenever Winry hit me with one of her wrenches. It takes a while to get used to it. Fights are even weirder. Then you get that creepy hurting feeling all over."

"Well, I'll be looking forward to _that_," Ed moaned, sitting down on the floor. Al jumped down from the bed and sat down next to Ed. "You should put on a shirt," Ed told him, noticing for the first time that all Al was wearing was a pair of boxers. "You'll catch a cold running around like that."

"Says you!" Al laughed, a smile stretching across his face. "How many times have I told you that?"

"Just listen to your older brother and do it," Ed sighed. "I just asked you to put on a shirt, it's not like I told you to do anything really complicated."

"Yes sir," Al laughed, picking up a simple black shirt without sleeves from up off the floor. "You know, you're a bit of a slob, Brother," Al commented as he slipped the shirt over his head.

"Yes, I know, Al," Ed sighed. "And I constantly have you to remind me of that. But could we focus on more pressing matters?"

"Like what?" Al asked innocently, a chunk of golden hair falling in front of his eyes as he cocked his head to one side.

"Like we've got to get you ready for the day," Ed sighed. "I've got to see Mustang today, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Al sighed. "I guess I'll get dressed, then. You want me to wear your usual outfit, right?"

"Duh," Ed sighed. "What else would I wear? And you have to braid your hair like I would," he added as Al pulled on Ed's pants and slid the belt into place.

"Okay," Al agreed, pulling his hair into a rough ponytail. "Where's that red band-thingy that you always use?"

"Um… It's somewhere on the floor, I think," Ed said as he stood up and looked at the floor beneath him. "There it is!" he said triumphantly, pointing down at the floor right in front of his left foot. He bent down to retrieve it, but his large fingers couldn't get a grasp on the small band.

"I got it," Al said, running to the rescue and retrieving the little band. "It's okay," he told Ed. "It takes a bit of practice to pick up things that small." He reached back and started to braid his hair as Ed turned around and sat on the bed.

"Uh, Brother?" Al said after a moment of silence. "I… Owww!" Ed turned around and laughed when he noticed that Al had gotten his automail hand caught in his long hair.

"It's not funny!" Al protested indignantly. "It really hurts! Ow!"

"I know it does," Ed said with a laugh as he got up to help Al. "I just forgot that I used to do that before I learned the right technique. Let's see…" he mumbled, trying to gently pick up Al's arm a little.

"Owww!" Al squealed, clutching his left hand to his scalp.

"Hold still Al," Ed told him, grabbing Al's left arm and pulling it back down by his side. "I'm not going to be able to untangle this very well since your– my- whoever's hands are so big," he told Al as he put his left hand gently on the top of Al's scalp. "So this might hurt a little."

"What are you going to-" Al started to ask, but then stopped as Ed yanked his automail arm away from his hair. Al shrieked, grabbing at his head with his left hand again.

"There," Ed said brightly, putting Al's hand down by his side again. "It helps if you practice with doll hair," he told Al as he gently picked up his golden hair and started to braid it in hopes of soothing Al a little. He fumbled with the hair a few times, but he finally managed to get it into a reasonable looking braid.

"Thanks Brother," Al sighed as he stood up and grabbed Ed's black jacket. "I'm sorry I ripped out a bunch of your hair."

"It'll grow back," Ed said dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

"How am I going to act like you, Brother?" Al worried as he pulled on the white gloves. "We may be brothers, but we're completely different!"

"Not completely," Ed corrected. "And you can start by calling me 'Al.'"

"That's so weird!" Al moaned, shaking his hands up and down as if he had spilled a nasty liquid on them. "It's like I've got some split-personality disorder or something! It's sooo weird!!"

"It's not weird, Brother," Ed told him, trying to act as much like Alphonse as he could. "You've called me Al as long as I can remember. Why should today be any different?"

"But-"

"Say it."

"But it's so weird, Al!" Al moaned. "I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to this!"

"You don't have to get used to it unless you want to permanently switch bodies," Ed told him. "And there are some other things you'll have to work on too. Repeat after me. I, Edward Elric,"

"I, Edward Elric," Al said slowly. He looked a little pale from the thought of having to act like Ed for who knew how long.

"Am a hopeless potty-mouth."

"Am a hopeless potty-mouth," Al repeated dutifully, a small smile crossing his lips. But it quickly vanished when Ed said the next part for him to repeat.

"Bitch, bastard, shit and hell."

"I can't say all that!" Al screamed with a horrified look on his face.

"Say it," Ed growled, grabbing the back of Al's shirt. "You're in my body now, people expect me to swear. They're going to know something's wrong if I don't swear."

"Fine!" Al yelled back. "Let them find out! Then maybe we could get some help and go back to normal! But I can't say all those things!" He narrowed his golden eyes stubbornly and stared hard at Ed.

"Fine," Ed growled, letting go of Al's shirt. "You want people to find out, then let them find out. But don't say I didn't warn you," he said, and then suddenly stamped his metal foot on top of Al's flesh one. Hard.

"Owww!" Al screamed, picking up his foot and starting to hop around the room in circles. "That hurt, Brother! What the hell did you do tha-" He stopped and immediately let go of his foot, clutching both his hands to his mouth. Ed would have smirked in triumph if he had a mouth to smirk with.

"I didn't mean that!" Al said quickly, letting go of his mouth enough to say a few words. "I didn't mean that!"

"That doesn't mean you can take it back," Ed told him as Al clamped a hand over his mouth and shook his head furiously. "Now repeat it. Bitch, bastard, shit and hell."

"B-B-Bi," Al stuttered, trying to form his mouth over the words. Ed slowly curled his right hand into a fist and raised it up in warning to Al, who quickly managed to stutter out the words in one long string.

"Bitchbastardshitenhell!" he panted out triumphantly, his face pale with the effort.

"Very good, erm, Brother," Ed said slowly, not used to using the title. "Maybe if you practice those enough, then you'll be able to move on to worse swears, like fu-"

"Brother!" Al said quickly, cutting his brother off.

"Best word in the dictionary," Ed said happily. He wasn't able to smile anymore, but he would have if he could. "And you have to call me Al, Brother."

"I'm not going to say that one, no matter what you say, _Al_," Al shook his head from side to side as he talked; making his braid hit one shoulder and then the other. "I'll say the other ones so people won't suspect anything, but I'm not going to say that one."

"All right, all right," Ed sighed, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "I give up."

"Thank you," Al sighed as he grabbed Ed's red coat and pulled it on. "Now, could we _please_ go get some breakfast? I'm _starving_." Ed laughed and nodded. He had never realized how good it would sound to hear Al say those words, even if he wasn't really back to normal.

**Well, I don't actually know if this has ever been done before, but I thought I'd give it a shot. This originally started as a long oneshot, but, well… it spun out of control… Please don't kill me if you've read a fic like this previously! **

**Part of the inspiration for this came from Wandering Hitokiri's story In Another's Shoes, (where Ed switches places with a girl) and of course, Freaky Friday. Don't ask me about the scientific-ness of switching places, because I really don't know how it could ever happen. I just needed to get this out of my head… T.T**

**And I don't own FMA, because if I did, then I would be off at my mansion sipping champagne. **


	3. Breakfast

Chapter Two – Breakfast

"Go ahead and order whatever you want," Ed told his brother as they sat down to breakfast in a small restaurant. "You're a State Alchemist, so you can afford it."

"Okay," Al grinned. "I think I'll have strawberry pancakes and scrambled eggs and bacon and orange juice and French toast and-"

"Hold on," Ed laughed. "You eat that much food and you'll explode!"

"I can't wait," Al said with a lick of his lips. "There's so much food I want to have!"

"You'll have plenty of time," Ed assured him with an amused tone to his voice. "Just order enough to fill you up and don't stuff yourself silly. Believe me, you won't like the stomachache afterwards if you eat too much."

"Okay," Al sighed, resting his hand in the palm of his hand. A young waitress with long copper-red hair walked up to their table and put two glasses of ice water down in front of the boys. A nametag on her uniform informed Ed that her name was Rena.

"Hey there," Rena said cheerfully. "Can I take your orders?" she asked, looking at Ed.

"I'm just here to keep my brother company," Ed said quickly. Rena looked over at Al, who grinned sheepishly at her.

"It's true," he laughed. "I always drag him along with me wherever I go."

"Well, what would you like?" Rena asked Al with a smile. Al eagerly picked up the menu and opened it.

"Whoa," he said softly, suddenly holding a hand up to his head as he looked over the menu. Rena looked at him curiously, and he quickly added, "It's just that everything looks so good. What would you suggest?"

"The chocolate chip pancakes," Rena said quickly. "Definitely."

"Well, then I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes," Al said, closing his menu. "And how about a glass of milk with that?" he added, earning a glare from Ed. "I need to make sure I get lots of calcium," he emphasized to Ed, who crossed his arms. Rena jotted it down on her pad, smiled at Al and walked away. Al watched her walk away, then quickly grabbed the menu and snapped it open again.

"Just a regular ladies' man, aren't you?" Ed said sourly, his arms still crossed. Al ignored him and trailed his finger down the menu slowly, his eyebrows creased in concentration.

"Brother…" he said slowly, not even bothering to flick his eyes upward. His finger kept trailing down the menu slowly, never stopping.

"You call me Al, I call you Brother," Ed reminded him bitterly. Al didn't know what he was upset over, but he was used to that by now. Ed was always upset over something. His finger stopped in the middle of the page and he looked up curiously.

"Do letters always look like this to you?" he asked. Ed was startled by the strange question and didn't say anything. "Do letters always look like this to you?!" Al demanded, jabbing his finger at the menu.

"What are you talking about, Al?" Ed asked, forgetting to call him 'Brother.' Al sighed and shook his head before looking back down at the menu.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Al murmured softly, his eyes flicking back and forth. "If I had only known…"

"Al?" Ed said softly, tilting his head down in an attempt to catch Al's eyes. Al flicked his head back up and stared back at Ed again, a mixture of emotions on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked softly. "I'm your brother, Ed. Why didn't you tell me? If you had just said something, I could have gotten you some help."

"Tell you about what?" Ed asked softly, realizing it was serious if Al was calling him by his name. Al almost looked like he could start crying again, and a garbled sound came out from his mouth that sounded like half-sob and half-shout.

"It explains so much," he said softly, keeping back his tears because he knew that Ed would be angry if he ruined his reputation by crying in a public place. "Your messy handwriting, why you concentrate so hard when you're reading…"

"What the hell are you talking about, Al?" Ed hissed, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. They weren't. "Tell me what's going on!"

"You're dyslexic, Ed," Al choked out, looking up at Ed.

The world seemed to stand still for a moment, and then Ed sighed and looked down at the table. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have gotten you some help!" Al said, trying to look Ed in the eye.

"I don't need help!" Ed hissed angrily as he looked back up at Al. "It's my problem and I can deal with it perfectly well on my own!"

"You don't need to deal with all your problems by yourself," Al said softly. Both the brothers fell silent for a few minutes until Al broke the silence again.

"Did mom know?" Al practically whispered, looking down at the menu again. His eyebrows wrinkled in frustration as he tried to work out the words and Ed sighed softly.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "She figured it out right before she got sick. She was going to get me some help, but…" Ed stopped, knowing that Al would know what he meant. "Mom was dyslexic too," he told Al softly. Al stopped trying to read the menu and looked up in surprise. "That's why she worked so hard with you on reading. She thought that you would probably have it since you seemed to take after her more than dad. She wanted you to have a good future," Ed said with a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

"But you're the one who ended up with it," Al finished softly with a sigh. "It's probably one of the few traits you got from Mom. I'm sorry, Brother."

"Sorry for what?" Ed asked with a slight laugh. "It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry you got it instead of me," Al said softly. "If it was me, I probably would have gotten help much sooner than you."

"Hey, I just call it my Equivalent Exchange," Ed assured him quickly. "If I wasn't dyslexic, then no other human mind would be able to even compare to mine." Al laughed a little at the words. Even now, he was still the same brother Al had always known.

"Do you have trouble with transmutation circles too?" he asked after a moment of silence. He couldn't hold back his curiosity any more, and he was itching to learn more about this new part of his brother.

"No," Ed told him. "Lucky for me. I just have trouble with letters and stuff. I've heard that there are some people who have trouble with numbers, though. Maybe there are ones who have trouble with transmutation circles."

"It'll take some practice for me to get used to it," Al sighed. "If you had just told me earlier I could have been a little more prepared. It caught me off guard."

"Sorry," Ed said with a slight laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "I kind of forgot about that when we switched." He paused for a moment as Al continued to struggle through the menu, his finger moving through the words at a snail's pace. "What about you? Is there anything like that you haven't told me about?" Al grinned as he stopped reading and looked up at Ed again.

"Don't you remember, Brother?" Al asked mischievously. "You knew about it back when we were little." Silence passed between them for a moment as Ed tried to think of what it was. "I'm deathly allergic to peanuts, remember?" Al finally laughed.

"Oh yeah!" Ed laughed at the memory. "You were the only kid in Resembool that didn't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!" Al nodded and laughed, remembering all the tuna salad sandwiches their mom had made for him as a kid.

"Mom was really great," Al sighed.

"Yeah," Ed agreed softly before Al went back to struggling through the menu and silence settled over them again. Both of them were just glad to have each other's company.

"Hey, Al? Have you got pen and paper?" Al asked after a moment, making sure to use the name like Ed wanted him to do. "I want to practice writing."

"Check your left hand pocket," Ed told him, leaning back against the seat. Al reached into the pocket and pulled out a small stub of a pencil and a small notebook. He carefully flipped past some of Ed's transmutation notes to a clean page and started to copy words from the menu into the notebook in large, sloppy writing. Every now and then he would pause and erase a letter, realizing that he had written it backwards. Ed watched him with mild interest, wondering if he always looked like that when he was concentrating, or if it was just the way Al held himself.

Finally Rena came back and placed a large a glass of milk and a plate piled high with pancakes in front of him. Al quickly closed the notebook and smiled up at Rena, who grinned back at him and moved on to her next table. The pancakes were huge, with melting chocolate chips piled on top of them. Al sliced his fork through one of the pancakes and found that chocolate chips were melted throughout them. He grinned up at Ed, and then took a bite, his eyes closing in contentment.

"That's really good," he sighed happily, cutting off another piece with his fork.

"Looks kind of heavy," Ed commented, eyeing the thick pancakes. Al nodded happily as he chewed another piece and reached for the milk. He finished one piece and lifted the glass of milk to his lips. His eyes widened in surprise and he barely managed to choke the liquid down.

"That tastes _awful_!" Al sputtered once he regained his breath. Ed stifled a laugh as Al hurriedly reached for the glass of water to the side. "Milk never tasted that bad when I used to drink it!"

"Well, it's always tasted that bad for me," Ed said smugly, barely managing not to say 'I told ya so.'

"I had no idea," Al said with a slight grimace as he rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "You need to get more calcium, but…" he eyed the glass of milk as if it were his worst enemy. "I'm sorry, Brother. I really didn't know. Maybe you could just take some of those calcium pills instead."

"Thanks Al," Ed sighed gratefully. "About time, too."

"Sorry," Al repeated as he took another bite of his pancakes. "I never knew it tasted that bad for you. I always thought a nice cold glass of milk was really good. Especially with chocolate like this," he added sadly, looking down at his pancakes.

"Ick," Ed said, remembering the taste of milk he had always known. Al rolled his eyes with an amused sigh as he took another bite of his pancakes. Suddenly Rena surprised both of them and bounced back up to their table.

"Sorry," she said quickly as Al looked up at her with a surprised look on his face. "But it's just that I suddenly realized why you seemed so familiar to me. You're Edward Elric, right? The famous alchemist?" Al briefly glanced at Ed, and then attempted to imitate his brother's cockiness.

"Yeah, that's me," Al smirked. "Youngest State Alchemist in history." Ed almost did a double take. That was just the sort of thing he would say, and probably how he'd appear, but he never thought he looked so… well, _arrogant_. The way Al was holding himself almost seemed to say 'Unworthy mortal, you dare approach the throne of King Edward?!' Maybe he would work on that later. Maybe.

"That's so cool," Rena grinned, not deterred easily. "I can't wait to tell my friends! I'm studying alchemy, too," she added happily, her smile putting the sun to shame.

"Really?" Al asked, perking up and forgetting to act like Ed. "How far are into it you?"

"Oh, not that far," Rena laughed. "Especially compared to you." She then turned to Ed. "And that means that you must be Alphonse Elric! I've heard a lot about you too! It's an honor to meet you as well!"

"Um, thank you," Ed said as cheerfully and politely as he could. He peeked a glance around Rena towards his brother. Al was beaming from ear to ear. It was probably the first time someone had been as excited to see him as they were to see Ed.

"Sorry to disturb you," Rena said quickly. "It was an honor to meet both of you." She hurried off to another table, her copper-red hair bouncing as she walked. Al sighed softly and turned back to his pancakes right before Ed whacked him across the head lightly.

"You like her, don't you?" Ed asked playfully. Al blushed and hurriedly jammed another bite of pancake into his mouth.

"No," he said quickly. Ed narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer, making Al swallow his food and look up at him with pink cheeks. "Maybe," he admitted with a sigh, looking back over at Rena. A customer said something to her and she laughed, her dark blue eyes sparkling with amusement. The corners of Al's lips twitched into a smile, and he turned back to his pancakes again.

"I wish that…" he started slowly, rolling a chocolate chip around the plate with his fork. "But it wouldn't work. I'm either in your body or don't even have a body. What kind of girl would want to bother with that?"

"Yeah," Ed sighed, resting his elbows on the table. "Not to mention that we're constantly moving around the country and never stay in one place for very long."

"Exactly," Al agreed, slowly taking another sip of his water. "I shouldn't get attached to her, because it would only end up hurting both of us in the end," he said, almost as if he was convincing himself. He sighed as he glanced over at Rena again. She had a stack of plates piled on one arm, and as she walked over to a table she caught Al's eye, grinned, and then waved with her free hand. Al blushed slightly and waved back at her sheepishly. Ed sighed and put a hand to his forehead.

**Heya, heya, it's chapter two!! XD So before you kill me for making Ed dyslexic, let me explain. –winces- Wait, you're actually going to let me explain? Okay, then. So part of it was because I was watching the anime and went "Wow, Ed has really childish handwriting." And then I started thinking about how he concentrates so much when he's reading, and… it turned into this. **

**The other part was because my Edward-ish younger brother has this thing called "Disorder of Written Expression." Put simply, it's like dyslexia and autism made into one big mushy cookie dough. So thanks to my younger brother. My, he's inspiration for a lot of my fanfics…**

**Thanks for the reviews:D Happyhappyjoyjoy! **


	4. A New Assignment

Chapter Three – A New Assignment

"I can't do this!" Al hissed at Ed as they walked up to Central headquarters. "I need you there with me!"

"Come on," Ed sighed as he continued to nudge Al forward. "You know they won't let me inside. You're the State Alchemist. Besides, it'll be easy. All you got to remember is to call Roy 'Colonel Bastard,' get really pissed if he calls you short, don't let him boss you around, and…" Ed paused for a moment as he thought before settling on, "And act like you don't give a shit about anything."

"Do you plan out how to act like this before you visit the Colonel?" Al asked suspiciously, turning his head to look up at his brother.

"No," Ed said quickly. "Now, let's practice a little before you go in there and have to do the real thing, okay?" Al nodded and turned around to face Ed. "Now, pretend I'm Mustang and you're me." Al nodded and Ed made his voice deeper. "Nice to see you again Fullmetal. You haven't shrunk since the last time I saw you, have you?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A COOKIE CRUMB SO SMALL THAT NOT EVEN AN ANT WOULD WANT TO EAT IT?!?!" Al immediately screeched in reply, his face turning a deep shade of red. He then clapped a hand to his mouth, his eyes becoming large surprised circles.

"I didn't- I don't know happened there," Al spluttered. "I didn't mean to explode at you like that, Brother! Really, I didn't! It just… came out…" Ed looked over Al thoughtfully for a minute.

"I guess we got a few of each other's emotions with the switch," he said slowly. "I was wondering why you woke up after I called you pipsqueak when you're usually the calmer of the two of us. What's a name that would annoy you?" Al cocked his head at the question, so Ed quickly clarified, "So that I can test if I got some of your emotions. Call me something you would hate."

"Trash can," Al said gloomily, remembering all the different names he had been called. There were just too many to pick only one.

"Trash can?" Ed repeated miserably as his shoulders sagged. He then snapped out of it and looked up at Al excitedly. "This is good!"

"What do you mean?" Al asked slowly, raising one eyebrow.

"Don't you see it, Al?!" Ed said quickly. "There's still a bit of me in my body, and there's still a bit of you in your body. It means that there's hope of us going back to normal!"

"Yeah," Al said slowly as the clock in the center of town started to chime ten o'clock. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," Ed said as he glanced in the direction of the clock. "Now get going. You don't want to be late, do you?" Al shook his head and hurried in the direction of Central headquarters, leaving Ed behind.

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Al was extremely grateful to bump into Riza as he hurried through the halls, trying to find Roy without making Ed look stupid. Ed had been to Roy's office countless times, so Al knew it would look silly if he stopped and asked someone for directions.

"Um, hi," Al said slowly, trying to think of what Ed would say if he met Riza in the halls. Al was used to greeting her with something more along the lines of 'Hello Lieutenant Hawkeye,' but now he had to concentrate on acting less like himself and more like his brother. A challenging task, for sure.

"Hello, Edward," Riza replied, as she quickly looked Al over. Al practically squirmed under her intense chocolaty gaze, but he made sure to keep standing straight and proud like his brother would. "Are you going to see Colonel Mustang today?" Riza asked, her dark eyes flicking to Al's golden ones.

Al barely kept himself from spitting out a 'yes, ma'am,' and instead tried to continue acting like his brother by mumbling "Yeah," as grumpily as he could. _"…Call Roy 'Colonel Bastard,' get really pissed if he calls you short, don't let him boss you around, and… and act like you don't give a shit about anything."_ Al sighed inwardly as he remembered Ed's words. But Ed had told him to act like that, so he would.

"Well, why don't you walk with me?" Riza suggested. "I'm going up to his office to bring him this coffee," she told Al, motioning to the mug in her hand. Al nodded gratefully and started walking beside her.

They finally came to a wooden door and walked in. Roy was sitting at the desk looking at some papers. Riza went up to his desk and put the coffee next to him.

"Nice of you to finally show up, Fullmetal," Roy said, taking a sip from his coffee without looking up. "You're late, you know." Al took a deep breath and prepared himself for his act, hoping he could pass himself for his brother.

"Well, I do have better things to do with my time that chit-chat with _you_," Al spat back, wincing inwardly at the mean words coming out of his mouth. He guessed that it sounded similar to Ed though, since Roy didn't even look up from his papers.

"You shouldn't insult me, you know," Roy said coolly. "I am the one responsible for sending you on your missions. I'm sure you don't want to get on my bad side."

"I didn't insult you," Al snapped back, starting to get into his part. "I said I have plenty of better things to do with my time than talk with you, which is perfectly true. If I wanted to actually insult you, then I would just call you Colonel B-B-Bastard," Al said, stumbling slightly when he had to swear. Roy looked up from his papers and raised one eyebrow curiously.

"_Aw, shit- I mean- aw, shoot!"_ Al thought frantically. _"He knows! He knows that something is wrong! Any second now he going to come over and say _'Alphonse, what are you doing in your brother's body?' _And then me and brother will be sent to some lab to be tested on, and- and- shootshootshootshooooooot!"_

"You're watch is hanging out of your pocket, Fullmetal," Roy said calmly as he looked at Al. "Be careful with that." Al looked down in surprise and saw that the silver watch Ed always carried had fallen out of his pocket so that it was hanging from just the loop on his pants. Al hurriedly grabbed it and shoved it back into his pocket.

"Well, if that's all you wanted to see me for, then I guess I'll be going," Al said turning for the door. This acting like Ed thing was turning out to be pretty easy after all. "It's been fun, Colonel, but-"

"Hold on there, pipsqueak," Roy said with a slight smirk. Al spun around quickly, his face red with fury from the small part of Ed still inside him.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD RIDE AN APHID AS A HORSE?!?!" Al screeched quickly, only making Roy's grin widen. Al could feel himself start to lunge towards Roy, but he quickly stopped himself before he could hurt anyone. He was used to restraining Ed whenever someone called him short, he just never though that it would become an inner struggle.

"I have your assignment here," Roy said once the large amount of blood had managed to drain from Al's face. "There's a town by the name of Baser that has been rumored to have streets paved with gold."

"So?" Al said, trying to sound uninterested. "They're just saying that to make it sound like it's a rich town so that more people go to live there. I doubt that their streets are paved in gold."

"That's what I said at first," Roy said slowly, his eyebrows bunching together thoughtfully. "But then someone one brought back a book that had a solid gold cover. And I mean _solid _gold. There wasn't another single element mixed in."

"Alchemy," Al muttered darkly, frowning at the thought of how some people were willing to cheat for their money like that. Didn't they know it felt better to earn it through hard work?

"Exactly," Roy nodded in agreement. "Scattered reports have also said that there is _a lot_ of gold circulating through this town. Now, to make that much gold using alchemy, someone would most likely need…"

"The Philosopher's Stone," Al finished with a nod. His mind started racing as he wondered whether the stone would be able to make him and Ed normal again. And then, maybe if the stone still had energy in it, then they could restore their bodies, and-

Al shook his head quickly to clear it. He was getting way ahead of himself. First he had to find out whether Baser even had a Philosopher's Stone. And if they did, _then_ he could focus his efforts on getting it. Of course, after going over it with Ed.

"Thanks you, sir!" Al said excitedly, forgetting to act like Ed while his mind swam with thoughts of going back to normal and living a peaceful life in Resembool again. He quickly saluted with his right hand before running out of the office. Roy stared at the door for a minute before turning to Riza.

"Riza, you would tell me if I fell asleep, right?" he asked slowly.

"Of course, sir."

"And I'm not asleep right now, am I?" he continued, looking as if he had just been slapped.

"No, sir."

"And did Edward Elric just salute me and call me sir?" Roy asked.

"Yes, sir."

"That's what I thought," Roy said slowly pushing himself out of his chair. "Riza, I'm going out for a minute. There's some business I have to take care of." He then pulled on his navy blue coat, making sure to tuck his gloves in the pocket.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed slowly paced back and forth by the fountain in the center of town, his feet making loud clanking noises as he walked. He paused as a cat came up to him and rubbed against his leg. He stood there frozen for a minute before leaning down and picking up the cat, looking it firmly in the eyes.

"Now look here, you," he said sternly to the orange tabby. "Don't you go trying to pull that on me. We don't have the time or space for a pet, okay? Just go pick on someone else who actually has a house for a cat to live in."

He shook one finger in front of the cat, but the cat just swatted at it playfully. Ed immediately withdrew his finger and pulled the best scowl he could manage in a suit of armor.

"I mean it," he continued seriously. "This isn't funny, you little joker. Now just go to someone who actually thinks you're cute," he said as he put the cat back down on the ground. The cat just sat there, staring up at Ed.

"You're not cute, you attention-loving furball," Ed told it, crossing his arms across his chest. The cat still didn't understand and kept looking up at Ed with wide yellow eyes.

"I'm telling you, it's not cute," Ed repeated testily. "Now get out of here before I kick you to the other side of town. Go on, get out of here!" He waved his arms in an attempt to shoo the cat.

The cat looked at him for a moment before walking up and rubbing against Ed's leg, making loud purring sounds as he did so. Ed sighed heavily, preparing to kick the stupid creature, but then realized that he didn't have it in him to hurt such a small, helpless creature.

"Look, we just don't have any way to take care of a cat properly," Ed said in a softer tone as he picked up the cat a second time. "I know you just want somebody there to love you, but we wouldn't be any good at that. Well," Ed paused for a minute. "At least I wouldn't. I bet Al would do it fine."

"_Alphonse_, are you talking to a cat?" a voice suddenly said from behind him. Ed spun around to see his mirror image. Or at least, it _used _to be his mirror image. He sighed and put the cat back down on the ground. This was just too weird. He hoped he and Al would go back to normal soon.

"Yes, I was talking to the cat, _Brother_," Ed said as innocently as he could. "You know how much I love cats. So, what's your assignment from Central?"

"We have to go to this town called Da- no, no, Ba- Ba-" Al let out a frustrated sigh and held his hands to his forehead. "Dammit, I forgot the name! I know it's Ba-something. Anyway, we have to go there because they've been making all sorts of alchemic gold. And they're making so much that it might be that they have a Philosopher's Stone."

"And you don't remember the name?" Ed said exasperatedly.

"No."

"Well, why didn't you write it down?" Ed continued, realizing just how stupid this assignment would be if they didn't have a name for the town. 'Hey, are you the town that's suspected of having a Philosopher's Stone? No? Well, thank you very much!'

"Well you know, I'm not very used to writing this way," Al scowled. "Maybe if I'd had a little warning in advance…"

"Okay, okay," Ed said quickly, putting his hands up in the sign of defeat. "I give up. Maybe if we go down to the train station and look at the town names you'll remember it." Al nodded and the two started walking side-by-side down the street.

"So how do you think you did on your acting, anyway?" Ed asked as they walked. Al just shrugged simply.

"I don't think I fouled it up too bad," he said after slight consideration. "I mean, it didn't seem like Colonel Mustang suspected-" he stopped as a wall of fire suddenly leaped in front of them. The two brothers turned around slowly to see Roy standing there with a cross look on his face.

"Who the hell are you and what did you do with the Elric brothers?" Roy demanded quickly. He kept his gloved hand extended towards them in an attempt to keep them from doing something stupid, like running away. "I want answers _now_."

"I guess I spoke too soon," Al sighed.

**Dun dun dun! Ugh, do you hate me right now for leaving you all with a cliffie? Sorry there were more scene breaks in this one. I wasn't really sure of how else to do it. Oh, and the chapters were coming so quickly because I had chapter two done when I posted chapter one. XD The updates will slow up a little though. My ultimate goal would be to finish this before Christmas!**


	5. Revealed Secrets

Chapter Four – Revealed Secrets

"So how do you think you did on your acting, anyway?" Ed asked as they walked. Al just shrugged simply.

"I don't think I fouled it up too bad," he said after slight consideration. "I mean, it didn't seem like Colonel Mustang suspected-" he stopped as a wall of fire suddenly leaped in front of them. The two brothers turned around slowly to see Roy standing there with a cross look on his face.

"Who the hell are you and what did you do with the Elric brothers?" Roy demanded quickly. He kept his gloved hand extended towards them in an attempt to keep them from doing something stupid, like running away. "I want answers _now_."

"I guess I spoke too soon," Al sighed.

"We really are Ed and Al," Ed protested indignantly, taking a step towards Roy. He then yelped and jumped backwards when a flame leaped towards his feet.

"I don't believe you," Roy said coldly. "Swearing is like breathing to Edward Elric. And back in my office you stumbled over a swear," he added, turning to Al, who was suddenly feeling very nervous. "And then you said 'thank you, sir' right before you left. Edward would never call me 'sir'."

"Please, it really is us," Al pleaded desperately. "We're just… different since the last time you saw us."

"Fine, if you're really Edward Elric, then I'm sure you can tell me your explanation of why my hair is black," Roy said, his gloved hand lowering only slightly. Al felt his face pale as he looked over at Ed worriedly before realizing that Ed wouldn't even be able to mouth words to him.

"Tick tock," Roy said, tapping his foot against the ground. Al bit his lip as he tried to think of what Ed would say, while Ed stomped his foot against the pavement in frustration. He knew exactly what the answer was, but there was no way he could tell Al without Roy knowing.

"I- I don't know," Al finally stammered, his voice almost a whisper. Roy narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand back up, looking ready to host his own barbecue.

"You're hair is black because a crow took a crap on your head and decided that it was the best place he had ever taken a crap, so he decided to stay there so he could keep crapping there the rest of your life. And now your head's so full of crow crap that it's all you can say," Ed said quickly before he could even realize what he was saying.

Roy and Al both turned to look at him in surprise, Al barely managing to hold back his laughter. It was the most creative way of insulting Roy he had ever heard Ed say. Even if it did involve him saying 'crap' a lot.

"Full…metal?" Roy said slowly, lowering his gloved hand.

"Erm, no?" Ed stammered quickly, realizing that he had given too much information. He didn't want him and Al to end up in some mental institution or science lab. "We're just some bad mayo you had for lunch," Ed improvised quickly. "You'll go back to your office and wake up and then everything will be back to the way it was."

"Nice try," Roy said simply. "But I never hallucinate when I've had bad food, and even when I have hallucinations for other reasons, I never figure out that it's a hallucination while I'm having it."

"Brother, maybe he can help us," Al pleaded, turning to look at his older brother.

"Shut up, you're the one who got us into this mess," Ed retorted. "Besides, even if he _could_ help us – which I highly doubt – I wouldn't want _his_ help."

"But-" Al started, and Ed just firmly shook his head.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Roy said bewilderedly as he watched the scene before him. "It's like the two of you have switched places."

"That's because we have, smartass," Ed snapped back. He was starting to get a little annoyed due to the fact that he was stuck in his younger brother's body with no clue of how to go back to normal. "We just woke up like this with no clue of how we got into this position. And now we have no clue of how to go back. So, if you don't mind-"

"Do you think it might have to do with your alchemy?" Roy said thoughtfully, and both boys turned to look at him curiously. "Ah, but you don't want my help. I guess I'll just go back to headquarters and finish some boring old paperwork…"

"Wait, I never said I didn't want your help!" Al said quickly. "And I'm sure Brother wants your help too, he just doesn't want to admit it! Please, Colonel, we really could use the help! We have no clue what to do!"

"Fullmetal? Do you agree with your brother?" Roy asked, looking slightly amused at the situation. For once Ed was begging him for help while Al was sulking off to the side. He didn't think another moment like this would come along in his lifetime.

"Fine," Ed grunted, though he couldn't physically grunt anymore, so the word was easier to understand than it might have usually been. "What's your idea, Mustang? What alchemy did we do to screw ourselves up?"

"The blood seal that ties your brother to that suit of armor," Roy explained, and Al took in a sharp breath of air. "It's written in your blood, isn't it?" Ed nodded slowly, feeling as though the ground would swallow him whole. As if it wasn't enough for them to simply pay for their sins, now they had this on top of it.

"We already know that Al connection to that suit of armor isn't very strong," Roy continued, "They were both once separate entities, so the armor could reject Al's soul at any second to try and restore its natural balance."

"Right," Al agreed quickly, remembering the constant worry that each day might be his last. "So what does that have to do with me and Brother switching places?"

"Edward said that the transmutation circle was written in his blood, remember?" Roy asked, and both boys nodded. "That means that a small part of him is also connected to that suit of armor. I think that your body almost got completely disconnected completely a few nights ago, but then Ed's soul jumped the armor to fill the gap because it was partly attached through his blood. Your soul then sensed an opening in Ed's body and quickly filled it before Ed had a chance to completely disconnect himself and die. You're probably lucky that you're both brothers and the blood between you is similar enough to not reject Al's soul. Otherwise, Ed might be stuck in that armor for good." Ed fell to the ground with a crash, holding both hands to his head.

"Holy shit…" Ed said softly, making Al look at him worriedly. "I'm sorry, Al… If it wasn't for me, then…"

"If it wasn't for you, then I would have died much sooner," Al said firmly. "Besides, it's not like this is so bad. After all, we're both still alive, aren't we? How do you think we can go back to normal, Colonel?" he asked, turning to face Roy.

"I'm not sure," Roy said slowly. "If that armor rejects the soul again, then you might go back to normal, but that's a bit risky. But the only other thought I can think of is the Philosopher's Stone."

"Of course," Ed muttered, once he had managed to collect himself and get into a standing position once again. "Dammit. Why does it always come down to the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to double our efforts to find the Stone, since we have double the problems to deal with, right, Brother?" Al said with a cocky grin. Ed paused slight before hitting his fist with Al's.

"Yep," Ed agreed quickly. "I guess we should be glad that this isn't making us go out of our way. Let's just hope we have better luck than we've had for the past few years." Al nodded with a positive smile, practically dripping with sunshine beams.

"So then you'll still be going to Baser?" Roy asked. Al and Ed both looked at each other briefly before turning back to Roy and nodding together. "Good. That means I don't have to fill out any extra paperwork," Roy grinned. "Have fun on your trip, pipsqueak."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TOOTHPICK SO SMALL IT DOESN'T EVEN QUALIFY TO BE A SPLINTER WHEN IT GETS STUCK IN YOUR TONGUE?!?!" Ed and Al both ranted simultaneously. Al quickly gained control of himself and went to grab Ed (who was lunging towards Mustang) as he usually did.

However, Al wasn't used to Ed being twice his size and made completely out of metal.

"Al!" Ed said in surprise when his brother fell to the ground, blood slowly starting to drip out of his nose. Ed quickly forgot about any height insults and quickly crouched beside Al, who seemed to just be mostly dazed.

"Ow," Al moaned, holding a hand to his head as he sat up. "That hurt. Brother, you have to control yourself better!" Ed nodded quickly, though he wasn't sure how he would manage to hold to it. But he was sure he didn't want to hurt Al again.

"I have a date tonight, so I'm going to let you guys take care of yourselves," Roy said, and disappeared in an instant. Ed muttered a few colorful words under his breath, mostly concerned with Roy's family tree.

"Well, I guess we should go to the train station, huh, _Alphonse_?" Al said, trying to drop a subtle hint to Ed about his vocabulary. Ed quickly stopped – albeit with a grimace – and nodded in agreement before the two brothers started walking towards the train station. Ed stopped and turned around when he heard a soft meow behind him.

"I told you to leave me alone!" Ed told the orange tabby cat from before, who seemed to smile at the brothers as it sat in the middle of the sidewalk. "We can't have a pet! Go bug someone else who does!"

"Aw, he's so cute!" Al cooed before running forward and picking up the cat. He shrieked as the cat purred and rubbed itself against Al's hands.

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked quickly, stepping forward anxiously. "Did it scratch you? Are you hurt? I swear, Al, if you die of rabies, then I'll…"

"He's so soft!" Al giggled as the cat climbed up on his shoulder and rubbed against his cheek. Ed stopped worrying, realizing that it was the first time Al had truly held a cat in years. It would be nice to have a cat around if just for Al to pet once he got his own _real_ body back. If the delight on his face would be the same, then it would certainly be worth it.

"You know, Al," Ed said slowly, not sure of the words coming out of his own mouth. "Maybe… maybe I was wrong all this time. Maybe we could have a cat." Al stood up and looked at Ed, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Really, Brother? Do you mean it?" Al asked enthusiastically. Ed nodded silently, knowing he would smile if he could. Hell, the hassle of having a cat was worth it just to see Al smile like that. "I don't know what to name him, though," Al said as he pulled the cat off his shoulder to look at it properly.

"Do you mind if I make a suggestion?" Ed said slowly, and Al quickly shook his head. "How about you call him joker?" Al cocked his head at the name, so Ed quickly explained, "That little guy kept messing with me today. He likes to joke around with people."

"Joker," Al tried the name as he looked at the cat. He then laughed and looked up at his brother. "It fits him, doesn't it? Joker it is, then!" he declared happily, and the cat meowed as if it knew it had just gotten a name.

"Here, you hold him, Brother!" Al said as he suddenly thrust the cat into Ed's hands. Ed looked down at the cat slowly, while the cat purred and swatted its paw at Ed's large metal hands.

"Okay, I held him," Ed said quickly before thrusting the cat back at Al, who took his new pet with a grin. "Now let's go. You're going to need a cat carrier for that thing," Ed said before walking off quickly.

"Meow?"

"Oh, don't worry, he's really a pretty nice person," Al assured Joker with a grin. "He just has to get used to the fact that we've got a new traveling companion. Then you'll be eating out of the palm of his hand, trust me."

"Meow!"

"No, no, he won't poison you," Al laughed. "Even if he doesn't like you, Brother isn't that cruel of a person! Brother wouldn't be able to have the death of a poor little kitten hanging over his head!"

"Meow-meow?"

"Oh yeah, he's my brother," Al said quickly. "I forgot to introdue ourselves. My name is Alphonse Elric, and my brother is Edward Elric. And now you're Joker Elric, okay?"

"Meow!"

"Yeah, I-"

"Alphonse," Ed's voice made Al jump slightly and look ahead at his brother. "If you're talking to that cat, then so help me, I'll…"

"Sorry, Brother!" Al laughed. "Let's go get that cat carrier, okay?" With that, Al ran ahead, cradling Joker in his arms protectively. Ed shouted after him, but deep down was glad that he had managed to make Al so happy for the first time in years.

**There, the cliffhanger is satisfied, are you all happy? Wait, let me guess, you still want more. A fanfiction author's work is never done…**

**Thanks to MithLuin for partly inspiring some of this chapter! I'm glad you all like the fast updates, I seem to having inspiration coming out the wazoo at the moment for this story! **


	6. Train Ride

Chapter Five – Train Ride

Ed sat silently on the train seat, just watching Al sleep. It was weird to be able to go through the night without needing any sleep and not getting tired at all, but Ed had made sure not to cause any trouble while Al was asleep, because then there'd be no one to stop him. Certainly tempting, but…

Al was lying with the back of his head resting against the window and one arm thrown over his eyes. Joker had managed to meow enough to make Al let him out of the cat carrier, and now the orange tabby was curled up on Al's stomach, sleeping peacefully.

Ed crossed his arms and looked out the window. He had been bored for about five hours solid by now, and was getting rather fed up with it. He knew that there was still at least another hour until the train got to Baser (Why were the trains so damn slow anyway?) and he was starting to wish he'd brought a book along.

"Damn, is this what Al went through for all those years?" Ed muttered to himself as a tree flashed by in the window. One tree. Everything else was grass.

Ed stopped as he heard a slight rustling, and looked over to see Joker stirring from his position. The small cat yawned and stretched his hind legs before jumping to the ground and looking expectantly at Ed.

"If you're looking to be pet, then it's not going to happen, furball," Ed said firmly. Joker just kept looking at him with innocent yellow eyes until Ed finally gave in and picked him up.

"Don't get used to this," Ed muttered as he rubbed the top of Joker's head with one large metal finger. Joker just meowed before purring and rubbing his head against Ed's hands. Ed just silently shook his head and went back to looking at Al. It was really weird to see himself through someone else's eyes.

Al mumbled something in his sleep before pulling his arm away from his eyes and blinking up at the bright lights of the train. He sighed and slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing at his eye sleepily with his left hand.

"Are we almost there?" he asked Ed slowly, his tongue stumbling slightly over the words. Ed nodded and put Joker back in Al's lap. The small cat looked up at al for a moment before happily curling into a ball on his lap. Al smiled and absentmindedly stroked the top of Joker's head.

"We still got about an hour left," Ed replied, glad to finally have the company. It was so boring to have no one to talk to for hours on end. Al sighed and stretched out his legs. He then jerked in surprise when he felt a wet spot near his armpit, except it was the armpit where his automail was attached.

"Hey, Brother, I think your automail is leaking!" Al whispered worriedly, leaning in towards Ed. "Is something wrong?! Oh no, Winry's going to kill me!"

"She not going to kill you," Ed said exasperatedly. "Automail does that when you don't move around too much. That's why I wear black clothes all the time; then it doesn't show up when I fall asleep on trains. Don't worry about it."

"That's why you wear black clothes? I thought that…" Al said slowly, then stopped in the middle of his sentence. "Never mind."

"Oh, come on, Al," Ed said jokingly, curious to see what Al had thought. . "Tell me why you thought I was wearing black before."Al fidgeted nervously with his fingers, trying to look away from Ed, which was a hard task, considering how big he had become.

Al hesitated for a second, then slowly said, "I thought you were wearing it because it's a mourning color. We've lost a lot of things through the years, and I just thought that… but that was silly of me."

"No it wasn't," Ed said softly, his earlier easy-going attitude gone. "That was a good thought, Al. And maybe… Maybe deep down I really do wear it because of that. But I like to be able to say that's just because of automail grease."

"Yeah," Al agreed softly with a smile.

"Hey mister." A sudden, small voice interrupted the two brothers out of their conversation. Ed looked up to see a young boy crouching over the seat and staring curiously at him. "Why are you wearing armor like that? Isn't it heavy?"

"Yep, it's really heavy," Ed assured the boy while realizing just how Al-ish his voice sounded.

"Then why are you wearing it?" the little boy pressed. "Are you worried someone's gonna attack you?"

"Are you a knight?" another voice piped in before Ed could answer. A small girl popped up over the seat next to the boy, looking at Ed with a grin. "Are you going to go save your princess?"

"Well, that would be a little hard, considering I don't have a princess to save or a valiant steed to get me there," Ed said as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"What's a… val- valerian steed?" the little girl asked curiously.

"A horse," Al laughed. "A really pretty horse."

"Oh. I like horsies!" the girl declared proudly, and even Ed couldn't stop himself from laughing amusedly.

"Are you two related?" Al asked after a moment. The little boy nodded.

"She's my little sister. My name's Timmy, and hers is Sophie," the boy said, pointing his finger at his younger sister.

"Hi!" Sophie said happily, making Al smile again.

"My name's Ed, and this is my younger brother, Al," Al said, jabbing his thumb towards Ed. Timmy and Sophie looked at them in surprise.

"If he's your little brother, then shouldn't you be bigger than him?" Timmy asked innocently. Al could feel a vein in his forehead beginning to throb, but Ed quickly rushed in to the rescue.

"Oh no," Ed assured Timmy quickly. "You see, I'm just a very tall freak of nature," he said, and Al shot him a quick glare. He would have been majorly hurt if it wasn't just Ed joking around and being himself.

"So where are you two going?" Al asked the kids in hopes of swinging the topic in a different direction. He didn't want to end up having another Ed-ish outburst because someone had called him short.

"We're going back home to be with our dad," Timmy told him. "Every Saturday we come down to Central because our mom is in the big fancy-schmancy hospital there. Then we go back home to live with our dad."

"Our mom's sick," Sophie added in a stage whisper, but this time she didn't pull laughs out of either of the Elrics. They were too lost in the memories of their own mother's sickness.

"And why doesn't your dad come and visit your mom?" Ed asked, his hands balling into fists. "Doesn't he want to see your mother? Doesn't _he_ care about her?"

"He does," Sophie said quickly. "That's why he says he's gotta study for a big test that's coming so that he can become a State Alchemist, because then we could pay for Mommy's medicine."

"You can't pay for it now?" Al asked slowly, and both kids shook their heads sadly.

"The hospital said they would keep giving Mom medicine until dad's test, and if he passed they would let him pay back the money, but if he didn't pass, then they would stop giving mom medicine."

"What happens if your mom doesn't have any medicine?" Al asked softly, his voice quivering slightly. Timmy and Sophie both looked down, and then he knew. She would die without the medicine.

"But that's murder!" Ed protested indignantly. "They can't just cut off her medicine! Hospitals are supposed to help people!"

"Brother-" Al said softly, but was interrupted by the intercom.

"We have received information that the Fullmetal Alchemist is on this train," the intercom cackled loudly. Al looked around quickly and noticed four men standing in each corner of the train, each one holding a gun in their hands. "Hand him over peacefully, and no one will get hurt. However, things will get a little messy if you don't. What do you say, Fullmetal, hm? Are you willing to risk the lives of all these innocent humans?"

"Brother?" Al leaned forward worriedly. "What do we do? We can't just put all these people's lives in danger."

"I know," Ed muttered, holding a hand to his head. "But we can't just march in there and give ourselves up freely. And I swear I've heard that voice before. If it wasn't so messed up from the intercom then I might be able to place it, but…"

"So what are you suggesting?" Al whispered back quickly. We get into the engine room so we can see who wants to kidnap you?"

"You might be on to something there, Al," Ed whispered back, making Al sighed exasperatedly and nearly start banging his head on the wall. "Erm- I mean, _Brother_," Ed quickly amended.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Al said with a slight smile. "We go and switch bodies, and meanwhile, everything around us stays the same. We can't just have a little time off from our usual problems."

"Yeah," Ed laughed. "Still getting yourself into trouble, huh, Brother?" he said playfully. Al scowled slightly, but it was mostly to maintain the illusion that he was Ed. Now that people were looking for him, he knew he couldn't slip out of character like he had done in Mustang's office.

"Are you going to come to me, Fullmetal, or am I going to have to start killing people?" the voice on the intercom said as if it was bored with how things were working out.

"Whoever this Fullmetal Alchemist guy is, he should just give himself up!" one of the riders in the train yelled angrily.

"Yeah!" a woman agreed. "It's not worth putting all of us at risk just to save his sorry hide!"

"He's nothing more than a rotten State Alchemist!" another man shouted. "Why should we risk our lives for him?!" At that, several murmurs of agreement ran through the train car. Ed and Al looked at each other worriedly.

"Well, Fullmetal, I guess I just have to start killing people until you can't take it," the voice on the intercom sighed. One of the men marched down the isle and immediately pointed his gun at Sophie and Timmy. Sophie's lower lip trembled, and Timmy put his arms in front of her protectively.

"Bastard!" someone in the car shouted, and murmurs of agreement ran through the rest of the crowd. The man pointing his gun at Sophie and Timmy clicked off the safety.

"Stop!" Ed shouted, jumping to his feet and unable to take it any longer. "Don't kill them! I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist! Just don't hurt them!"

"Boss, we got a squealer," one of the four thugs in the car said into a walkie-talkie. The man paused to listen to a voice that was too distorted for Ed and Al to understand, and then he replied with, "He's huge. Wearing some sort of armor, too."

Silence ran through the car for a tense moment, and then the intercom crackled to life again.

"Nice try, Alphonse," the voice cackled, and Ed and Al both stared at it in surprise. It was obviously someone who already knew them, considering how most people thought Al was the Fullmetal Alchemist at first sight, anyway.

"But now I know which car you and your brother are in," the intercom continued evilly. "Now, pick some innocent brat and shoot it to tech those Elrics a lesson." The man with the gun pointed at Timmy and Sophie grinned to himself and made sure his aim was right.

"No!" Al screamed and dived in front of the two children at the exact minute the man fired. There was a loud pinging sound, and the man who had shot the gun fell backwards, blood streaming out of his arm.

"What the hell did you do?" one of the thugs shouted in horror. Al grinned and reminded himself to thank Winry later. Automail certainly had it's benefits at times. "Boss, he deflected a bullet with his bare arm!" the man shouted into his walkie-talkie.

"Guess I'll have to come down myself, hm, Fullmetal?" the voice sighed over the intercom. "If you want a job done right, you gotta do it yourself." Al and Ed looked at each other nervously, wondering who this 'boss' really was.

**Agh! Another cliffhanger! I'm sorry it took me longer to update this time! I was doing my Christmas shopping. Speaking of which, Merry Christmas to all of you! Yay:D **


	7. The Ones in Charge

Chapter Six – The Ones in Charge

"Should we try to fight our way out?" Al whispered worriedly to Ed as the three remaining thugs surrounded them. Ed and Al both rolled their hands into fists as the large men pointed their guns at the two alchemists in the center isle of the train.

"Just don't get shot," Ed said before leaping forward and punching one of the thugs in the face. Al grinned and quickly followed suit, throwing a few punches and easily taking care of the large man. Ed took care of the other two men with even more ease than usual. Being bigger and made completely out of metal helped a lot.

"I've got to remember to get better help," A low voice sighed from the doorway. The two brothers looked up to see who was after them this time, and then they both gasped in surprise.

"Colonel Mustang?" Al inhaled sharply. He then felt a light pressure against his leg, and looked down to find that Joker was rubbing against his leg and purring. Al smiled slightly and then reached down and picked up the cat, holding him protectively to his chest. Somehow, just holding a soft life in his hands made him feel so much better.

"You bastard," Ed spat angrily. "What do you want with us?"

"My, Alphonse, what a potty mouth you are today, hm?" Roy tutted with a smirk. "And I don't want anything with _you_. I just want Fullmetal."

Ed cocked his head as he reconsidered the man in the blue uniform that was standing in front of him. Sure he had recognized the voice as Mustang's earlier without knowing it, but there was still something strangely familiar about the man that was standing in front of him. His voice may have sounded like Roy Mustang's, but the style of speech didn't quite fit. And he was referring to Ed and Al as if he had never learned that they had switched places.

"Now, Fullmetal," Roy continued, "I want you to come with me peacefully. Because if you don't, I will kill everybody on this train, and I'm sure you don't want that, hm?"

"No," Al said softly, clenching his hands into fists. "I thought you were our friend. We trusted you."

"Ah, how easily human trust is broken," Roy smirked. Suddenly something clicked in Ed's mind, and he realized why Roy didn't sound exactly like himself. He could see the thugs starting to climb back to their feet, except for the one who had gotten shot in the arm, of course. Ed's mind spun and he quickly clapped his hands together, desperately hoping his idea would work.

Al looked over in surprise as blue alchemical light flared around his brother. Ed quickly pressed one hand to his right arm and formed it into a blade similar to the one he always used with his automail. He then lunged forward and stabbed Roy in the gut.

"Brother!" Al cried out in surprise and blood leaked out of the corners of Roy's mouth. "Why did you do that?!" Ed just silently pulled out his blade, and Roy coughed, spitting out flecks of blood.

"Because this is not Colonel Roy Mustang," Ed answered simply. "He's really Envy." Al looked back at Roy and his eyes widened when Roy took his hand away from his stomach and wiped the blood away from his mouth. Through the rip in his shirt, Al could see Roy's skin knitting back together until the only thing that could possibly indicate that he had been stabbed was the blood on his shirt.

"Very good, Alphonse," 'Roy' said, and then swiftly changed into his usual long-haired form. "I never would have thought that you would have been the one to figure me out. I would have bet all my money on the pipsqueak."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD BUILD A PENTHOUSE SUITE IN A HYDROGEN ATOM?!?!" Ed and Al both screeched in unison. They then both stopped together and managed to stop themselves from attacking Envy on the spot. Ed knew he didn't want to end up hurting Al again just because he couldn't control himself.

"Whoa. That was… strange," Envy said, looking between Ed and Al. Ed just crossed his arms across his chest while Al blushed slightly. Sophie laughed from her seat, making Envy turn to look at her.

"Why, hello there," Envy said, grinning at her and revealing two rows of sharp teeth. Sophie gasped and grabbed onto her older brother's arm, hiding slightly behind him. Al clenched his fists and then quickly stood between Envy and the two children.

"Don't touch them," Al growled, gritting his teeth together as he stared Envy down. For once he wasn't trying to act like Ed, but he still had the outward appearance that he was the older Elric brother. Envy smirked as he looked Al over.

"And why not?" the homunculus asked slyly. "Are you attached to them or something, pipsqueak?" Al narrowed his eyes slightly at the short comment, but managed to keep control of himself. It was Envy, after all. Height insults were practically expected.

"They're just innocent children," Al replied icily. "They don't have anything to do with you and me. Just leave them alone." Envy smirked again and leaned in closer to Al.

"And what if you decide not to come along with me?" Envy asked, blowing warm air onto Al's nose. "I might need a little _persuasion_ to make sure you cooperate and do what we want you to do."

"You're going down, Envy," Al growled slightly before clapping his hands together like he had seen Ed do so many times before. But this time, only a slight spark of blue light cackled around Ed's hands before fizzling out and dying with no reaction. Al looked at his hands bewilderedly, and Envy looked between Al and Ed.

"Well, isn't that interesting?" Envy said, and both Ed and Al tensed at his words. "The great Fullmetal Alchemist can't do the alchemy he's famous for, while his brother is able to do it. I wonder…"

Before he could finish his thought, a large metal fist came in contact with his head. Envy scowled and turned around to see Ed in a fighting stance. Al knew his brother would have looked very angry if he had a face to express his feelings with.

"There's barely enough space for you in this train car," Envy said to Ed. "Are you sure you want to start a fight with me and put all the lives of these humans at risk?" Ed lowered his fist slightly and looked around the car. Most of the people in the car were holding onto those around them and watching the scene before them with wide eyes.

"Now, you come with me," Envy said, turning back to Al. He then paused slightly and looked between the two brothers. "On second thought, both of you come with me," Envy said slowly as he considered them.

"Why do you want us?" Ed asked, clenching his fists and carefully looking around the train car. He didn't want anyone to get hurt while he wasn't watching. The thugs were standing back up, though it didn't seem like they were going to do anything to hurt anyone without Envy's orders.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," Envy said with a smirk, earning a scowl from Al. "Now come along quietly, and nobody will get hurt."

"And how are we supposed to believe you?" Al spat angrily. Ed mentally grinned to himself. Envy had gone and put Al in a foul mood, which was hard enough to do, and now Envy was going to have to deal with an angry Al, which Ed knew could be even scarier than himself in a bad mood. Perhaps bad moods just had more time to ferment in Al.

"What choice do you have other than to believe me?" Envy said. Ed and Al both tensed and looked at each other worriedly. They didn't know what Envy wanted with them and they didn't trust him, but they didn't want anyone on the train to get hurt either. "So what do you say?" Envy asked with a smirk. Both brothers hesitated, trying to figure out what they could do that wouldn't hurt the people on the train, but that wouldn't force them to go with Envy.

"You're taking too long," Envy growled in a low voice before looking over at one of the thugs pointedly. Ed and Al both jumped as the sudden sound of a gunshot and a high scream rang through the car. Ed and Al both jerked and saw blood blossoming on Sophie's chest.

Timmy let out a hoarse scream in horror before quickly grabbing his sister's shoulders and holding onto her tightly. Sophie coughed once, and bright red flecks of blood spotted her pale lips. She didn't seem to notice Timmy holding onto her and letting warm tears fall onto her cheeks.

"You-!" Al started angrily and lunged towards Envy, but was then interrupted but a loud clunk. Al quickly spun around, and saw that instead of dripping tears, Timmy was instead dripping blood onto his sister's still form and had a long black nail going through his head. Lust retracted her nails again, and the small body slumped forward.

"No!" Ed screamed in horror as he watched blood pool on the seat around the two children. Just a few minutes they had been telling Ed and Al about how they had been visiting their mother in the hospital, and now they were…

"Can I eat them, Lust?" Gluttony asked, poking out from behind her legs and looking at Ed and Al with gleaming eyes.

"No, Gluttony," Lust said smoothly. "We need them. But you can always eat the other people in here if they decide to fight us."

Al could hear a woman gasp, and another man cried out, "What the hell are they?" Al clenched his hands until his could feel the nails of his left hand digging into his palm. He glanced over at Timmy and Sophie, and then back at the three homunculi.

"You said no one would get hurt if we went along peacefully," Ed said in a lower voice than usual. It was the best he could get in the way of showing his anger. "People got hurt. I guess that means we don't have to live up to our part of the bargain."

"Wrong choice," Envy scowled, shifting his feet so his was in a better position to fight. Ed glanced around quickly and noticed the door at the back of the car.

"_Brother_, you get out of here," Ed said softly with a quick glance towards Al. "I'll distract them for a bit, okay?"

"But-"

"Just trust me, okay?" Ed said. Al looked at Ed curiously, and got the feeling that he would have been wearing his familiar trademark smirk if he could. Al hesitated slightly, then nodded and turned, trying not to look at Sophie and Timmy as he ran towards the door with Joker tightly in his arms.

"Hey, since when does the pipsqueak run away?" Envy said, looking after Al confusedly, as if he was deciding whether or not to chase him. "What the hell is going on here? It's like it's topsy-turvy day and no one told me!"

Ed quickly thrust forward with his arm before Envy could decide to run after Al, using his right arm, which still had a blade. Envy jumped back in surprise, but still managed to get a graze on his cheek.

Ed soon found that while he couldn't get physically tired, the fight was still mentally draining. He not only had to focus on fighting Envy in just the space of the isle of the train, but he also had to make sure his moves were more well planned. Unlike with a physical body, if someone held a knife to the right place, he could be in serious trouble. With his normal body, he was used to just shrugging off wounds.

"Now arriving in Landover," the intercom cackled, and Lust looked up at it as Ed and Envy continued to spar. "Next stop, Baser."

"Envy, stop," Lust commanded sternly. "You know what our orders were. We have to get off here whether we have the boy or not." Envy looked over at her as if she was taking candy away from him, and then looked back at Ed.

"This isn't over," he growled through clenched teeth. "For you _or _your brother. We will get what we want someday." Lust then extended her fingers and instantly killed the four men they had been using for help. They obviously didn't think very much of the help they had managed to hire.

Ed kept his stance, and the three homunculi walked off the train, along with most of the people in the car, who were running for the safety of the inn. Ed finally relaxed and then turned and walked out the door Al had run through.

"Brother!" Al said in surprise as Ed walked through. "I was worried about you! What happened?"

"They just got off the train," Ed said slowly, scratching at the back of his head. "I was planning to throw them out the window to make sure they wouldn't follow you."

"Brother!"

"Hey, they can't die!" Ed protested. Al paused slightly, and then started laughing. Ed looked at him for a minute and then joined in with him.

"Well, I guess we should go back in," Ed said uncertainly with a glance towards the door once they had stopped laughing. Al bit his lip and held Joker tightly to his chest as he thought about going back into the train car.

"I don't want to," he said softly, remembering the blood pooling out from little Timmy and Sophie. "Can't we just jump off the train here or something and walk to Baser?"

"Jump off the train?" Ed repeated disbelievingly. "But what about our stuff? It's still in there where we left it!"

"It's not that important," Al muttered softly, looking down at his feet. "Just Joker's cat carrier and some extra clothes for you." Ed almost retorted with something else, but then realized just how disturbed Al had been by the death of the two young children. And while Ed didn't like to admit it, he didn't really want to go back in the train car either.

"_We're going back home to be with our dad," Timmy said. "Every Saturday we come down to Central because our mom is in the big fancy-schmancy hospital there. Then we go back home to live with our dad."_

Ed shook his head, trying to clear the memory from his mind. Timmy and Sophie's problem had hit just a little too close to home, other than the fact that their dad actually cared about his family. How would their sick mother be affected by their death?

"Well, if you think you can handle jumping off the train," Ed said slowly. "Just don't bang my body up too bad, okay? And make sure to protect Joker when you jump too." Al looked up and quickly nodded before facing the edge of the train. Luckily, the train wasn't moving very fast since it hadn't had much time to gain speed, so Al quickly bent his knees and jumped, with Ed following behind him with a slight shake to his head.

They were so anxious to get off the train that they didn't hear a frantic sentence shouted from the inside of the car as they jumped.

"Someone get help quick! The girl's still breathing!"

**Yes, yes, I know, it took me forever to update, and then I went and did that. –winces- I'm sorry about that, really! Anyway, at least now I've finished off the cliffhanger, and hopefully now I won't leave it sitting around for quite so long. Meep. **


End file.
